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West Ranch Completes Historic Comeback To Advance To Division 7 Semifinal

A special energy emanated throughout Paul A. Priesz Stadium, and in the wake of unimaginable loss, a community took a step toward healing by rallying behind the West Ranch Wildcats football team for a historic playoff victory.

The old proverb of seeing is believing is the only way to describe what happened in Friday’s playoff game between Wilson and West Ranch. It would be impossible to write a more dramatic script.

Wilson (Long Beach), the No. 2 ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division 7, a road favorite and the top scoring team in the division, came out firing on all cylinders. By the midway point in the second quarter, West Ranch was down 28-7 and looking for answers.

That’s when the steady calm of junior quarterback Walker Eget began to shine through. Eget led two touchdown drives in the final five minutes of the first half, tossing one touchdown pass to Nicholas Kohl and another to Zachary Van bennekum. Each had a pair in the game and Eget threw three in the first half.

Related story: Santa Clarita High School Playoff Scores

The West Ranch defense only made four stops the entire game, but all four came in massive momentum-shifting moments of the game. The first of which, forcing the Wilson Bruins to come away with no points before halftime, kept the game within two scores. The Wildcats went in to the break down 35-21.

During halftime, the home team’s student section, filled with not only West Ranch students but also Saugus and students from throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, participated in a beautiful moment. First, a moment of silence, as five balloons were released to the sky in honor of the five victims of Thursday’s shooting. Then, the student section chanted in unison, “Saugus Strong!”

“I told our kids before the game, ‘I really don’t know what to say,’ because when I got into teaching I didn’t think I’d have to be talking about this kind of stuff,” said West Ranch head coach Chris Varner. “But I said, ‘look, Saugus, Hart, all these teams are our rivals, but they’re our family. When somebody messes with Saugus, they’re messing with the whole Valley, and we wanted to be SCV strong tonight.'”

It was impossible to not be moved by the moment, and the collective spirit of the pro-West Ranch crowd was uplifted. That’s when Wilson made it’s first critical mistake.

The Bruins came out of the lockerroom first, and stopped at midfield to wait for the Wildcats. Once the West Ranch players had made it to their sideline, Wilson inexplicably offered up some more fuel for the home team and crowd: gesturing and chanting toward the West Ranch sideline in an intimidation tactic.

To say it backfired would be an understatement.

Wilson receieved the second half kickoff and proceeded to march right down the field, converting a 4th down and three 3rd downs. A drive that spanned over nine minutes of game clock and appeared to be the backbreaking drive of West Ranch’s season.

But the Wildcats run defense tightened up just outside the red zone, and blocked a 40 yard field goal attempt. Walker Eget and the offense would finally touch the ball for the first time in the second half with 2 minutes and 56 seconds left in the third quarter.

Eget connected with Kohl for his fourth touchdown pass of the game with under 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter, bringing the Wildcats to within one score for the first time since the first quarter, 28-35.

The fourth quarter was an all-out offensive frenzy, with both teams exchanging blows. Four touchdowns were scored in less than three minutes of play. Both of the West Ranch touchdowns were scored by running back Jackson Reyes, one receiving and one kickoff he returned 90 yards to the house.

Still, the Wildcats found themselves down 56-49 with under 3 minutes to go in regulation, and Eget and Co., needing to drive the length of the field for the opportunity to tie (or take the lead).

In the 2 minute drill, the West Ranch QB was remarkable. He scrambled for a first down to jump start the drive, then found Brandon Wyre over the middle for a 35 yard gain. A couple big plays from Jackson Reyes and the Wildcats were down to the 10 yard line. That’s when Eget rolled to his right and threw his prettiest pass of the game:

His postseason school record seventh touchdown pass of the game to Brandon Wyre set up the coaching moment of the season for Chris Varner. Kick the extra point to tie or take the lead by going for two?

“They [Wilson] have an incredible offense, I thought if we scored [the 2-point conversion] we would have the momentum, and just catch them before they had time to adjust,” said the West Ranch coach. “I didn’t want to go to overtime with them, not with their offense.”

The Wildcats converted the 2-point try to go up 57-56 with 1:36 left in the game.

The Bruins were clearly shaken on their final drive, caught between two minds–go super aggressive to try and score a touchdown, or take it easy in field goal range and kick it for the win. With five seconds on the clock, they lined up for a 33 yard field goal:

West Ranch comes all the way back from down 21 points in the first half to defeat Wilson 57-56 and advance to a CIF Southern Section semifinal in football for the first time. They’ll travel to Temecula Valley next Friday to face the Golden Bears.

For now, our Santa Clarita Valley can celebrate. Celebrate life, Santa Clarita, and being Saugus Strong.

“We really needed this as a community,” said West Ranch quarterback Walker Eget. “Two people lost their lives, and we were just praying to God that, even though this can’t bring them back, we’re trying to give their spirits a great good-bye.”

KHTS Sports is your place for the 2019 Santa Clarita high school football season and your Santa Clarita Dodgers coverage. Find all the latest news and updates on your hometown schools here as they compete in the Foothill League, Heritage League, Western State Conference and GSAC.

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West Ranch Completes Historic Comeback To Advance To Division 7 Semifinal

2 comments

  1. What a beautiful night for our community…There was definitely some divine intervention on the field…all you saw in the stands was Santa Clarita kids, arm in arm, many from different high schools, all coming together as one…These Wildcat boys won this game for our Saugus Family??

  2. Great story! Great moment! Great community!

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About Justin Powell

Justin moved to the San Fernando Valley from the Inland Empire in 2011 to complete his BA of Communications degree at California State University, Northridge. Just a few months after getting his degree he moved to Valencia and started as an intern at AM-1220 KHTS, and was promoted to Sports Reporter within a year. Though Justin is still relatively new to the Santa Clarita Valley, he is an avid sports fan and passionate about building the sports department at KHTS into a special source for local high school sports.